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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Is it permissible to shower during the Nine Days?

Is it permissible to shower during the Nine Days?

Rabbi Ari Kahn

There are various traditions regarding the customs of
the nine-day mourning period between the first and the ninth of Av. All Jewish
communities commemorated the days leading up to the fast of the Ninth of Av, a
national day of mourning for the
destruction of both the First and Second Temples and the resultant loss of
Jewish sovereignty and eventual exile. However, different traditions regarding this
period of national mourning exist among geographically distant Jewish
communities. One particular tradition common among Ashkenazic communities, as
seen in the Rama's comments on the Shulchan
Aruch[1], regards the custom to
refrain from bathing, even in cold water, from Rosh Chodesh until after the
Fast of Tisha B’Av. The law seems straightforward, and many Ashkenazim have traditionally refrained from showering during
these nine days, based on the Rama's ruling in the Shulchan Aruch.This custom
notwithstanding, deeper analysis of the
topic will result in the opposite
conclusion.

It is customary not to bathe, even in
cold [water], from Rosh Hodesh onward. And even on Erev Shabbat Hazon[2] bathing is
prohibited other than the head, face, hands and feet in cold water. Others are
lenient regarding washing the hair in warm water for those who are accustomed
to do so in preparation for every Shabbat.

While the Rama concludes that on Friday, Erev
Shabbat Hazon, the custom of refraining from bathing would prevail, yet one
may wash "the face, hands and feet” in cold water; even further, the Rama concludes, those who are accustomed
to washing their hair in hot water every week in preparation for Shabbat may do
so on Erev Shabbat Hazon as well.

From this last phrase it is apparent that washing
ones hair in hot water was not a widespread custom in the time of the Rama.
This is understandable; without indoor plumbing and electricity, a hot bath was
indeed considered a luxury and was not part of standard daily (or even weekly)
personal hygiene. In the era in which the Rama's comments on the Shulchan Aruch
were composed, "bathing" involved a visit to a proper “bathhouse”, the closest modern equivalent of which may well be
a spa. Such a visit was considered a pleasurable and out –of- the- ordinary
experience,[3]
and hence inappropriate during the nine days in which we observe customs of mourning
for the Temple.

So much for bathing; a visit to the spa is
inappropriate. What, then, is the status of “face, hands and feet”, a type of
hygiene that is permissible during these nine days? The distinction between
“bathing” and washing one's “face, hands and feet” is found both in the Talmud
and in the Shulchan Aruch and in the context of the Laws of Aveilut (personal
mourning for the loss of a relative):

This is the law: A mourner
is forbidden to bathe his whole body either in hot or in cold water all the
seven days. [Regarding] his face, hands and feet, he may not [wash] in hot
water but in cold water he may; anointing is not permitted at all; if, however,
it is to remove the dirt, it is permissible.

“Bathing” means washing one’s
entire body – this is prohibited even in cold water, but ones “face, hands and
feet” he may not [wash] in hot water but in cold water it is allowed. If he was
dirty…then he may wash in a normal fashion.

Here we should clarify two important points; first,
the laws regarding the communal mourning of the nine days are extrapolated from
the laws of personal mourning – but are generally not more stringent than those
regarding personal mourning. Hence, just as in shiva one who is “dirty”
can wash, so too during the nine days of Av. The prohibition of bathing regards
“pleasurable bathing”[4]; when the washing in question is not for
pleasure but for personal health or hygiene, it is permitted. This would include
swimming for exercise, as well as washing for health or medical considerations.[5] Likewise, the "removal
of dirt" would include common perspiration which accumulates on the body, especially
during the hot and humid days of summer.

The second point that requires clarification
regards the use of terms in these sources: what exactly is meant by washing
one’s “face, hands and feet” in contradistinction to “bathing”? The Mehaber[6] described bathing as
immersing one’s entire body in water – what we would call a “bath”. On the
other hand washing one’s “face, hands and feet” is what we would call a
“shower”[7]. Therefore, according to the Mehaber,
during Shiva it is permissible for a mourner to take a tepid, but not a hot
shower – unless one is actually dirty, in which case even a hot bath would be
allowed, and most certainly a hot shower. When we factor in the consideration
that for the most part showers are viewed today as part of normal daily hygiene,
and not as an extraordinary, pleasurable activity, there is all the more reason
to be lenient.

We may then conclude that when we factor in health
and hygienic considerations as well as discomfort from the heat, taking a cool
(or tepid) shower during the nine days should be allowed without question; if
one is actually dirty, a hot shower is permissible.

There is, however, another approach to this custom
that was taught by Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik in the name of his father Rav
Moshe Soloveitchik.[8]
In his comments on the Laws of Aveilut (personal mourning)
cited above, the Rama refers to a custom of Ashkenazim not to bathe for the
entire 30 day period after the death of a relative.

By law, this is prohibited
only for the seven days of shiva, but thereafter bathing is permitted. But
in present times our custom is to prohibit bathing for the entire 30-day period
[known as shloshim]…

Rav Moshe Soloveitchik argued that the source of the
Ashkenazi custom of refraining from bathing for the entire nine-day period
emanates from this (presently unknown) custom regarding personal mourning. This
is part of a larger framework for the customs of communal mourning observed
from 17 Tammuz through the Ninth of Av: According to Rav Moshe Soloveitchik,the
customs instituted during this three-week period bring the community as a whole
toward an experience of mourning that culminates on the Ninth of Av, with each
of the three stages of mourning closing concentric circles of experience: The
laws of the three weeks are not arbitrary, rather they are patterned after the laws
of mourning in the 12 months of individual mourning. The nine
days from Rosh Hodesh Av through the 8th of Av are patterned after
the 30 day period of individual mourning,[9] and Tisha B'Av's laws are patterned
after the seven-day shiva period. This being the case, the source of the
custom not to bathe during the nine days can be sourced to the now-defunct
custom, cited by the Rama as the Ashkenazi practice current in his time, of refraining
from bathing for the entire shloshim period. Once this custom fell out
of practice, Rav Moshe argued, the custom of not bathing during the nine days
should also fall into disuse, especially in light of our understanding that the
laws of communal mourning are generally not more stringent than the laws of
personal mourning from which they are extrapolated. Hence, not only is bathing
permissible during this period as a leniency or in case of need - - there is no
prohibition against bathing whatsoever, even in hot water – and certainly there
would be no prohibition in showering.

In conclusion:

·Those who wish to shower on a daily basis
during the nine days from Rosh Hodesh Av through the 8th of Av may do
so, especially given the warm weather.

·If one wishes to take note of the
destruction of the Temple, one can use cooler water than usual – though this
should be viewed as a stringency.

·Swimming for exercise is permissible.

·According to Rabbi Soloveitchik, even taking
a bath would be allowed.

[7] Heard in the name of Rav Yosef
Shalom Elyashiv, communicated to me by Rav Yitzchak Berkovitz, I have been told
that Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach concurred, however his opinion as recorded by
Rabbi Freid in Maadanei Shlomo pages 52-53, would seem to disagree,
unless Rabbi Freid used the Hebrew word for bath instead of the word for shower.
Answers to halachic questions are often dependent on the precision with which the
question is posed. I do not question Rabbi Fried; it is also possible that the
individual who reported to me the ruling of Rabbi Auerbach was imprecise either
in his questioning, understanding or reporting. Also see Halichot Shlomo
422.423, where only “bathing” – רחיצה- and not showering,
is discussed; however, see note 62 where it is reported that when Rabbi
Auerbach was lenient he advised not to wash the entire body at once.

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